The Supreme Court on Monday made it clear that Delhi-NCR’s pollution crisis cannot be addressed by short bursts of emergency measures. Instead, the court pushed for a coordinated, long-term strategy while refusing to impose year-round restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).

A bench led by Chief Justice B R Gavai, along with Justices K Vinod Chandran and N V Anjaria, said the framework of graded measures under GRAP is based on scientific assessments and cannot simply be extended throughout the year.

“We do not possess expertise to deal with the same. We are therefore not inclined to act on the submission that all activities prohibited from GRAP 1 onwards be stopped in Delhi,” the CJI said, responding to a plea that sought blanket year-long prohibitions in the capital. T

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